World News | Foreign tourism rebounds in Jerusalem: report

Jerusalem [Israel]May 20 (ANI/TPS): Foreign tourists are flocking to the Israeli capital again, but tourist numbers have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, according to a report released on Wednesday, the day before Jerusalem Day.

Thursday marked the 56th anniversary of Jerusalem’s unification in the Six-Day War in 1967, and celebrations took place across the capital, including the annual flag parade through the Old City.

Read also | Vladimir Putin’s stark isolation has been underscored by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s diplomatic tour.

The Jerusalem Policy Institute’s 37th Jerusalem Statistical Yearbook provides a comprehensive overview of the city.

The number of international tourists doubled last year compared to 2021, and room occupancy in city hotels is expected to be 55% in 2022, up from 22% the year before. However, in 2019, before the pandemic, the occupancy rate was 72%.

Read also | G7 summit in 2023: Leaders reaffirm commitment to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons while ensuring safety for all.

Hotel revenues reached 2 billion shekels ($549 million) last year, up 181% from 2021, but still far below the record of 2.5 billion shekels ($686 million) set in 2019.

Jerusalem is the top destination for foreign tourists staying overnight in Israel in 2022, accounting for 34%, but is much less popular among Israelis, accounting for just 8% of overnight visitors compared to 42% for Eilat , Israel 11% Dead Sea and Tel Aviv 8%

Dr David Koren, chief executive of the Jerusalem Institute, said: “After three challenging years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the city’s tourism industry has been hit hard and sees Jerusalem gradually recovering from the pandemic. Activity levels before the outbreak, encouraging.” Policy Research.

The report noted several other important findings.

Israel’s most populous city, Jerusalem, has nearly one million inhabitants. More than 1.4 million people live in the Greater Jerusalem area, spread across 80 districts around the Israeli capital.

At the end of last year, the average age of Jerusalemites was 24.2, compared with 30.1 for Israel as a whole. Children aged 0-14 make up 33% of the city’s population. Last year’s fertility rate was 3.9, significantly higher than the overall fertility rate in Israel3 and even higher than Tel Aviv (1.9) and Haifa (2.1). The birth rate for Jewish women in Jerusalem was 4.4, compared with 3.1 for Arab women in the city.

Jerusalem’s poverty rate is significantly higher than Israel’s overall poverty rate, with 39% of Jerusalem’s households (125,900 households) living below the poverty line last year. About half of Jerusalem’s children (202,400) live below the poverty line.

“Jerusalem is in the midst of a revolutionary transformation that is already beginning to emerge: the city is thriving, its commerce and tourism are on the rise,” said Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion. (ANI/TPS)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)